A family who had some financial needs came to see me when I was their bishop. The husband was working and attending school, and the wife was doing everything she could to help financially and to be at home with their children. They did not want to come in for assistance, but they had exhausted their resources, and it was a last-ditch effort.

We met, and it was one of the easiest welfare assignments. They wanted only enough help to get by, and we were able to assist in a small way. They were so grateful for the welfare assistance, they treated the funds and the food they received very sacredly. The next month, they came to me, and said, “Bishop, we have found an apartment that is about $200 a month cheaper than our current situation.”

They did not want to be a burden. They desperately wanted to do all they could to be self-sufficient. They moved out of the ward, and I didn’t see them for a few years. When I did, they had moved back into the area and they were doing well. They Lord had blessed the husband with excellent employment after finishing an educational program, and they seemed wonderful and happy.

When I think of gratitude, I am always reminded of this good family. During the same time period, I worked with another family that had been receiving monthly for assistance for years. When I became bishop, and I saw their file, I was awestruck. I soon realized this was not an assist to get them over a rough spot. Instead, the ward had completely taken over many of their expenses.

Sacred welfare funds were paying cell phone bills, cable bills, and other unnecessary expenses. I didn’t sense that this family felt gratitude for these precious funds, only ongoing expectations and a sense of entitlement. When I met with them, we reviewed their financial plan and made adjustments and alterations. They were not happy about the plan and about me, their new bishop.

Within a few days of our meeting, I received a letter from the husband, expressing his disappointment and detailing how, because of me, the family would experience a host of negative results if they followed this new plan. I stuck to the plan and did all I could to show love and support. Surprisingly, despite their initial resistance and offense, this family stuck to the plan also. In time, I received a second letter.

It spoke of the blessing it had been for the family to go from being dependent on the ward to being self-sufficient. They had sacrificed and had suffered some consequences; but, after months of reflection and adjustment, they felt the hand of the Lord in their life and recognized that taking a new direction had greatly blessed their family. Their second letter showed tremendous gratitude and thankfulness for principles learned from a loving Father in Heaven.